Sawmill of Central Europe 493 



planks from each log are piled together, so that one sees at a 

 glance just what material is sawn from each log. Edgings and 

 slabbing are cut into 24 inch lengths and bound with two wires 

 into 10 inch bundles and sold as "kindling." Merely sawing logs 

 into boards costs from $.75 to $1.00 per 1,000 feet board measure, 

 the owner of the logs often taking also the sawdust coming from 

 his logs when he removes his material. Wages in the small mills 

 vary between $.75 and $1.00 per ten-hour day, although in the 

 larger mills it may run as high as $2.00. The labor unions have 

 had a great influence in Germany on the scale of wages ; in a 

 few cases the scale has been doubled during the past five years. 



In the small mills there is no attempt at grading and the 

 sawn material is sold as though in the original log form. In the 

 larger mills, however, four grades of spruce, fir and pine are 

 recognized ; namely, clear, 1, 2, and 3. Clear permits of pin- 

 knots but they must be sound, and excludes sap, shake, rot, etc. 

 Numbers 1, 2, and 3 are based particularly on sap, shake, char- 

 acter of knots as well as size, rot and stain. 



The mill investment in equipment varies from $1,000 to 

 $150,000. One is at once struck by the permanence of the struc- 

 tures ; the small mills being of heavy timbers, masonry founda- 

 tion and tile roof ; the larger mills, of brick, concrete, and 

 tile. Many of the small mills have been in operation 50 and 

 more years and the equipment is still good. Uusally the yards 

 are supplied with tracks and transport entirely by push-cars. 

 Drying kilns are of rare occurrence and the supply of logs is 

 kept at least 6 months in advance, while the sawn material is 

 given from one to three months' seasoning in the yard. This 

 necessitates a rather heavy investment in raw material, but the 

 consumer, especially the factory, demands a class of material 

 which necessitates slow seasoning. Occasionally sawn oak is 

 held three years so that it may be thoroughly seasoned, before 

 going into high grade window sashing and furniture. 



As to the application of the European sawmill to American 

 conditions, in its entirety it is admittedly out of the question. 

 Perhaps the greatest advantage lies in the substitution of the 

 gangsaw, with its comparatively small waste, for the circular 

 saw, with its unquenchable thirst for "kerf." Perhaps the great- 

 est objection to its adoption lies in its "permanent" character, 



